Inside this principal paradigm of monogamy, depictions of figures who possess serial, monogamous relationships with people are hardly ever look over as bisexual since their previous relationships ( having a specific sex) are dismissed as perhaps not significant. a vintage exemplory instance of this might be Willow (Alyson Hannigan) in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who’s depicted as straight when it comes to first couple of periods, during which time she’s got a relationship with boyfriend Oz (Seth Green), and upon entering a relationship with Tara (Amber Benson) is subsequently depicted as being a lesbian. Her previous relationships with and curiosity about guys becomes re written as “not real” (or otherwise not as as “real” as her newfound love that is lesbian and therefore any prospective bisexuality is erased.
Too frequently bisexual presence requires people to locate relationship records which subvert the principal ideals of monogamy, regardless of if they by themselves are consistently monogamous. Alan Cumming, bi and actor advocate, stated in a job interview on NPR’s oxygen in 2014:
“I had previously been hitched to a female. Before that a relationship had been had by me with a person. When I had another relationship with a lady, and I also ever since then have experienced relationships with males. We nevertheless would determine myself as bisexual partly because that’s how personally i think but in addition because i believe it is crucial that you i do believe sex in this nation particularly sometimes appears as a tremendously black and white thing, and I also think we have to enable the gray. You understand?”
I became struck, scanning this estimate, just by exactly just just how familiar this type of bisexual storytelling is. I’ve told a type of this tale myself when dealing with my bisexuality, and heard it from buddies and strangers alike. It’s an account built to make bisexuality that is one’s and genuine with complete understanding so it could slip through the cracks, becoming subsumed into heterosexuality webcam pussy or homosexuality, at any time. Cumming is all too aware that their phrase of wish to have both women and men is inadequate by itself in order to make their bisexuality noticeable, and that when you look at the context of their wedding to a person his “mere” desire could possibly be effortlessly dismissed to generate a homosexuality that is coherent. Their bisexual narrative alternatively involves emphasizing the significance of their previous relationships and wedding, explaining them alongside their present relationship and implying that they are nonetheless still meaningful in his sexual identity while they are not current.
Further, Cumming’s narrative involves relationships with women and men that are dispersed throughout time, in place of a number of relationships with ladies followed closely by a number of relationships with guys, that could easily be subsumed in to a homosexual (instead of bi) “coming out” narrative much like Willow’s plotline. And even though none of those relationships are depicted as non monogamous in by by themselves, Cumming’s narrative disrupts the “one true love” logic of monogamy at exactly the same time as making their bisexuality noticeable with time. For making explicit mention of the his previous relationships as significant to their present sex, Cummings does not want to be dismissed, revised, or excluded by monogamy’s “one true love” narrative or bi erasure.
Comparable disruptions accompany other moments of bisexual presence in movie and tv. Ways to get Away with Murder, as an example, effectively illustrates Annalise Keating’s (Viola Davis) character as bisexual or pansexual by bringing a relationship that is past today’s. For the duration of season one, Annalise’s love passions are male. Nonetheless, at the beginning of season two, it’s revealed that a relationship was had by her with legislation college classmate Eve Rothlo (Famke Janssen) as well as the two shortly rekindle their relationship for the duration of working together.
Offered the principal ideals of monogamy, had it merely been revealed that Annalise had a university relationship with a female, it could have already been too possible for audiences to dismiss her previous relationship in an effort to reinscribe a present right identity. Having said that, had she kissed a previously unknown girl, audiences would probably have see clearly being a free erotic triangle relating to the woman as well as on again off again boyfriend, Detective Nate Lahey (Billy Brown) probably needing quality in to a straight or lesbian identification. Nonetheless, Annalise’s sexual and intimacy that is emotional Eve in today’s avoids the bisexuality as narrative interruption trope and alternatively functions to attract our awareness of the significance of Annalise’s historic relationship with Eve. The earlier relationship cannot (and should maybe perhaps maybe not) consequently be effortlessly dismissed as being a “phase,” simultaneously disrupting the logic of monogamy which relegate previous relationships towards the past just and enabling Annalise to stay noticeable as being a bi character.
As bisexual people, we have sick and tired of the persistent relationship between bisexuality and non monogamy, demonstrated through popular stereotypes which place us as promiscuous, confused, dangerous, greedy, misleading, cheaters, and struggling to commit. a familiar reaction to this fee could be the reminder that, like right and gay/lesbian individuals, bisexual individuals could be (and they are) both monogamous and non monogamous. Although this refutes the misconception that bisexual folks are always non monogamous, it does little to describe the way the relationship between bisexuality and non monogamy emerged into the beginning. And even more importantly for the representation on display, the real ways principal narratives of monogamy create the conditions of both our erasure and our presence.
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Amy Davis is finishing a PhD on bisexual erasure during the University of Wollongong. Amy is thinking about feminism, queer and trans politics, animal liberties, legislation, ethics and, above all, kitties.